Through the Veil
by ArgentNoelle
Summary: The veil was ragged and old. It almost reminded him of a spider's web. "Captain," Mr. Spock said softly, "I am reading some sort of unidentified energy coming from the doorway."


This is _complete_, even though it might not feel like it. The reason I didn't write anything more was because I couldn't think of anything else to happen next. So this is a one-shot.

OK, about the story... I wondered what would happen if Spock, Kirk, and McCoy found the Veil in one of their travels, how it would affect each of them. I didn't reread the chapter with the Veil in it before I wrote it, so my Veil might not have _quite_ the same feeling as Rowling's. But it wasn't really supposed to anyway...

* * *

Through the Veil

* * *

They were meeting with the inhabitants of a planet in the far reaches of the Federation. They were known for being interested in time, space, and magic—an unusual combination to some, but they were regarded as technically advanced.

Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Captain Kirk beamed down together. They brought no redshirts with them, for there was no hostility between them; and they brought no one else from the ship, because Captain Kirk had decided to bring his two best friends. Sometimes Mr. Spock had the opinion that the Captain picked people for landing parties according to who he thought would be more fun to have in an adventure. It had long been a sneaking suspicion of his, but after the Nazi Planet, not to mention the Iotians, he'd decided he was most probably correct.

A stunning woman was waiting for them at the assigned place. She was wearing a dress of some material that shone different colors in the light of the sun, and her long, intricate white hair was braided into a crown on her head. She was surrounded by six men wearing silly hats and very strange looking uniforms. Dr. McCoy pretended to take tricorder readings, when, in reality, he was bringing up a list: that was now 403 planets in total where at least some of the inhabitants wore silly hats and strange uniforms. He never even _bothered_ counting the planets with beautiful women anymore. Captain Kirk smiled dazzlingly at the woman, who ignored him, and asked them, politely, to follow her. She then turned around and walked up the side of a bare hillside. They followed.

.

"As you know," said the grave man, head of the circle of the men in white cloaks, "Every thousand years we have a ceremony to renew our magic. Now I know, some of you may not believe in magic; but I am sure you have seen many advanced civilizations and things you could not understand. You may call this science if you wish, it makes no difference to us."

They were standing in the middle of the stone room. The room had no walls, but only rough pillars holding the roof up, and was carved straight into the rock of the hillside. In the center of the room was a strange doorway that was not connected to anything, and seemed to go nowhere. A veil was attached to the doorway, and it was blowing strangely, though there was no wind.

"Captain," Mr. Spock said softly in the back of the room, as the men in white robes began to make a circle around the doorway with the veil; "I am reading some sort of unidentified energy coming from the doorway."

"Really?" Kirk asked, looking at it. The veil was ragged and old. It almost reminded him of a spider's web.

"Maybe it's like the Guardian?" McCoy asked.

"I hope not," Kirk said strangely.

The men had begun to sing, in a strange language that, Spock told them, sotto voce, was an old language the inhabitants had once spoken, but was now remembered only in memorized songs.

"So the meaning is lost?" McCoy asked with interest.

Spock nodded.

The woman appeared next to them. "Perhaps you should leave now," she said hesitantly.

"Leave?" Kirk asked. "Why?"

"When the ritual is over, the power of the veil will be strong. It is hard even for the singers to resist its pull. Only to the high priestess, who has experienced no death, will the veil say nothing."

Kirk looked over at the veil again. "We were sent to witness this ritual. It would be senseless to stop before it was done."

"It will only be more of the same," the woman said. "Believe me."

"We'll stay," Kirk said.

The woman sighed. "Very well, but whatever the consequences, we will not be held responsible." She held up a small device. "This holds a recording of our conversation, in case it is needed." She turned once to look at the veil. Then she turned and walked away to the hill outside.

Soon, the singers stopped. As one, they turned, and ran out of the room, none of them noticing or caring about the three men who stood in the shadow of one of the pillars.

"Why so in a hurry to leave?" Kirk asked. "This veil must really be something."

Dr McCoy was looking at it with a strange expression on his face. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Kirk asked.

"The voices. They're behind the veil."

"What voi—oh," Kirk said. "The voices."

Spock listened. At first, he could hear nothing, but then he heard it. The whispering. He walked closer to the veil. "Fascinating," he said, looking through it. Beyond the veil he saw not the room, but only darkness, and always, the whispering continued.

He didn't realize at first that the captain and the doctor had come next to him. They were looking at the veil as well. Dr. McCoy seemed the most affected at first glance, the most pulled to the veil, and yet also the most repelled by it. Spock's attraction was less, but there was no opposite reaction. All he felt was fascination. But it was Kirk on whom the spell fell deepest. The longing on his face was indescribable. He reached out and touched the veil, and it did feel like spider silk, but strangely cold.

"We should get out of here," McCoy said, tearing his face away with a jerk. "Spock? Spock!"

Spock turned from it. "Yes, Doctor?"

"This thing is dangerous, they said so; we have to leave."

For a moment Spock seemed to hesitate. Then he closed his eyes, and opened them, letting out a breath. "Yes," he said.

They turned to their Captain. He was right up against the veil, both his arms stretched out into the blackness.

"Captain, come back," Spock said.

"What's that, Spock?" Kirk asked in a strange, abstracted way.

"C'mon Jim," Dr. McCoy said, walking up to him and grabbing him by the shoulder. "We're leaving."

Kirk jerked his arm out of McCoy's hand, and stumbled. "Oh," he said for a moment in surprise, as his foot landed not on solid rock, and he disappeared behind the veil.

"Jim!" Spock shouted, running up to the veil, his arms held out as if he might catch him before he fell.

"Spock, no!" McCoy shouted, grabbing him. "You can't go in there!"

"Let go of me," Spock said, and dashed through. McCoy looked at his empty hands, and back to the veil, the horrible veil, which still swayed in a nonexistent wind. He listened to the whispers, the whispers.

"You're not going without me," he said grimly, and stared through into blackness. He took a step, and another. He closed his eyes and went through.

…

The End


End file.
